(Based off of things my dad has done as a bored engineer)
Manically built a foghorn from PVC pipe one day. Played with it for three minutes, ran back into his work shop, came back out with a couple more pieces and some painter's tape so he could change the tone and pitch at will. Laughed himself silly for ten minutes then got bored. No one knows where the horn is to this day
Got a high powered laser pointer and pointed it at the sky for awhile (making sure there was no planes or anything of course) to see if it would reflect off the low hanging clouds. When he got bored with that he got curious and pointed it at his chest hair. Singed off a couple pieces and was utterly stunned it hurt. Yes, there's a scar
Took apart a voice changer so he could install a new chip that was supposed to make him sound like a Dalek. It only kinda worked. Called it a rip off and no one has seen it since (probably got reused as parts for God knows what)
Was showing off his new golf club in the living room (it's a PHYSICS based sport, cut him some slack! … and the golf carts are fun...) and over estimated his overhead swing. Put a huge dent in the ceiling. It's still there. He still gets bashful when asked about it
Has a WALL of rechargeable batteries
Absolutely adores kitchen gadgets. He's had a popcorn machine (stopped using it when he realized just how detailed cleaning it was), a cotton candy maker (it lost its charm after a week), ice shaver (doesn't know where it went but longs for it whenever it gets hot out), several bread makers (“this time I'm ACTUALLY going to use it!” doesn't), a soda stream (he just likes pushing the button), milk shake machine with three nozzles (see popcorn machine for why he stopped using it), and so so much more. His ultimate dream is the hot dog toaster but he's too scared he'll be disappointed to get it (but still stares at them longingly whenever he sees one)
Was gifted a mini claw machine for his birthday one year. Didn't like the grip strength so he adjusted it himself then got bored when he won every time (again, no one knows where it is now)
Turns off his brain by watching infomercials. Falls for them every time. Begged Adrian to let him buy an induction burner plate for MONTHS. They kept saying no and that he'd get bored with it. Rocky brings it up all the time, esp during nonsense arguments (“This would have never happened if you let me get my induction burner plate!”) or he'll just sit there when they're having dinner and go “Induction. Burner. Plate.” with emphasis on each word, then go back to silently eating. Eventually got it. Cooked with it once. Got bored
Any mild inconvenience no matter what time of year “Christmas is ruined!”
Sure there was music on Eden but that was mostly Hymns. I'm talking about music
It started subtly with Simon listening to Grace humming around the Hail Mary, catchy little nothing tunes. And of course there's Rocky who literally communicates via song.
What really locks him in to the obsession is when he walks into the lab one day while Grace is working on whatever busybody project he came up with on the trip to Erid. Grace is playing music over Mary's intercom speakers because of course he is (and his music is a rollercoaster btw. Sad, happy, loud, sad again, you get the picture lol).
Simon walks in while Golden Hour is playing. Grace is singing along. He has a surprisingly stunning voice, but Simon already knew that. What enchants him is the piano.
There were no pianos on Eden. No organs. Just voices and hands (material couldn't be wasted on making instruments). He's heard of a piano but he's never heard a piano.
He's infatuated. Enthralled even.
"What is that?" He asks when the song finishes.
"What is what?"
"That. The.. du-du-du-du-du."
"Oh! It's a piano! Have you never heard one before?"
Simon shakes his head, maybe a little embarrassed.
"Oh! Makes sense I guess. Can't imagine there'd be much piano on a space station. Well... Do you want to hear more?"
Simon nods. Eagerly.
The rest of the afternoon is spent listening to any and every piano heavy song Grace can find. Simon is utterly enchanted. He spends nearly every waking hour for the next week or so listening and re-listening to the songs Grace showed him. And it gives Grace and Rocky an idea.
They make him a piano of his own--well, a keyboard for now. Grace and Rocky were able to pull the correct sound files from the endless data bass Stratt installed on every laptop. Finding charts to follow in the build were even easier! But once they land on Erid Rocky says there should be plenty of supplies to construct a true grand piano. In the mean time, Simon can learn (if he wants to). And Grace and Rocky even found one handed sheet music for him to practice with! And videos!
Simon is in love. Beyond happy. Beyond grateful. Words can't describe it!
He studies. He practices. He all but masters the keyboard by the time they land. Heck, he's even got Grace to learn a little to play as his second hand for some songs (it only took a little begging for Grace to say yes. Puppy eyes always win).
Once the Eridians make him a new hand he's finally able to play two handed on his own, but still talks Grace into playing with him from time to time.
When Simon is finally given his very own grand piano he begins to write music of his own. Beautiful melodies. Eridians will come from near and far to hear him perform in the biodome. So much so that Adrian creates a whole separate mini-dome dedicated for performances with ideal acoustics accounting for the xenonite barrier (to stop the muffling).
Grace and Rocky are their savior, but Simon is their artist. He's never been happier.
It's been awhile since we talked... Do you got a sec'?
I miss you. I miss home. Not Eden, home. Our home. That dingy corner we were allowed to sleep in. You remember it—? ... 'Course you do. Two cots. Two blankets. Two pillows. Two cups. Two plates. Two bowls. Two forks. Two spoons. Barren. Cold. But you always found a way to make it warm. Inviting.
Remember that stick figure I drew on the wall? Hah. I do. I thought you were going to whip my ass when you found it for wasting crayon—but you loved it. You said it added character to our corner. Decoration. Decorations weren't allowed, but you said it was our secret. You took the crayon and drew a little me next to the little you a drew. Two sticks holding stick hands. I was so happy. So proud. So glad to see you smile.
>>>>Read the rest here!!!!! Simon's finally entered the chat fr!<<<<
I'm at the airlock. I don't know how I got here, I don't know why I'm here, but I'm here. My hands are expertly gliding over the buttons, beginning the cycle to re-stabilize the chamber. There's no critical damage to Mary to worry about in doing this. Again, how I know is beyond me. It should be impossible with the impact of the submarine—but we're going to be fine. A divine intervention! I can hear chuckled in my mind.
Right. Forgot I was going crazy.
>>>>Read the rest here!!! Chapter 5 up now after an unplanned delay!!!<<<<
My friend Grace is sick. Sick, sick, sick. I'm worried there's nothing I can do to fix it.
He barely eats. He resists sleeping. He's becoming not Grace. Quickly.
He tells me he thinks he's losing his mind. He doesn't even laugh when I tell him he never had it to begin with. Grace loves stupid jokes. I miss his laugh. All he does now is stare, stare, stare at the laptop. No speaking. No laughing. Mary is too quiet without him. Much like how Blip A was too quiet when my crew, my friends, went to their eternal rest.
>>>> Rest of this angst filled chapter can be found here! <<<<
Like what do you mean I get to just take musical notes and put them in random orders?
♪♭♫♪ seems legit, sure
♬♪, yeah they got a cute lil nickname, what of it?
You do not want to piss off 𝄫♩♬♪
Don't even get me started on ♩
Oh and ♩ 's mate ♪
♪ is the real ♯♬ in that mateship
Sometimes I think that ♩ is just in a bad mood because it has to go home to ♪ every sleep cycle and NOTHING has been the same since they had their pebble ♭
Rocky is still sleeping. I wish there was a way to wake him up. I wish I wasn't alone with my thoughts right now. I wish things made sense again. I wish I wasn't on the floor. I wish, I wish, I wish—but what has wishing done for me so far? Nothing. A fat load of nothing.
Wishing for Earth to not die in a horrific ice age got me sent to space to die. It got my friends killed. It almost got Rocky killed. Wishing has me hurtling toward a whole other planet at nearly the speed of light with no food, horrible sleep, reoccurring nightmares of a sentient eyeball! An eyeball that talks by the way—figure that one out!
Okay, alright. Calm down. I'm losing it. I'm going crazy. Calm down. Deep breath in, hold it, let it out. Deep breath in—
>>> Rest of the chapter can be found here! Thank you so so so so so much for the support! I'm having so much fun writing this! <<<<
I am, unfortunately, quite use to the sight of blood these days. Malnutrition causes a whole series of issues. Scurvy. Epistaxis (nosebleeds—Rocky got mad at me for getting “too Sciencey” with my wording the first time I got one in front of him). Anemia. Basically name it, it's made me bleed with increasing excess with every pound I drop. But this—this was a lot. Too much.
I groan as I bring myself to my hands and knees, coughing and spitting up the last globs of blood in my throat and lungs. It's painful. Burns like heck. “Ugh.” I groan. I spit. “Disgusting.”
“Grace! Grace that's too much blood!”
“Yeah,” I pant, “you're telling me, Pal.”
“Grace!” Rocky stomps two of his legs in what I know to be a sign of frustration. I wave my hand through the air in a way that's supposed to mean give me a minute to breathe through this darn blood! But he takes it as a dismissal. He's even more angry now, stomping again. “No shoo! You're bleeding! Not from your nose! Not from your teeth! From there!” He's pointing to my chest, my lungs. Of course he can hear it. I try not to think of what that sounds like. Try being the key word here.
It's not a new sensation. I've been doing it for years now, but—there is something off here. I don't know how I can tell. Call it intuition I guess? It's just—off.
I open my eyes. My thickly gloved hands are the first thing I see. Okay, so I'm in my EVA suit. That's normal—unfortunately.
I start to pat myself down. Helmet? Check. Jumpsuit? Check. And sealed, thankfully. Life support all good. I have hours of oxygen left. Check, check, check. Glasses? Well—I can see so check there I guess. I can wiggle all ten of my fingers. I can wiggle all ten of my toes. Everything checks. I'm good. I'm alive. I'm just—drifting in space. Literally drifting. The stars ahead of me are slowly getting closer. The stars behind me are slowly getting further. That twinkle there—I'm not sure but I think it's a planet.
Something... Something...
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
>>>> You read the rest of the chapter here! Complete with TW and some more context! <<<<
MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE MANIFESTING A GOOD JUNE
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